Grief is the Thing With Feathers: analyse af sorg og tab

What happens when you have to live without your loved one, and how do people figure out how to keep up with their daily work, when sorrow and sadness fill their minds?

The book “Grief is the Thing With Feathers” written by Max porter revolves around a dad, who lost his wife. The dad is left alone with their two kids, and he has to overcome the task of raising these. Who will fill in for the mother?

The story “Grief is the thing with feathers” is a story about a dad who has lost his wife, but also about how the sorrow will influence their lives after the loss of the children’s mother and the father’s wife. The father, the crow and the children live in a house together. From the outside of the house a demon tries to find his way in to the family’s house. The demon attempts to find his way in to the house at four different occasions. The first time the demon pretends to be Keith Coleridge from 56, “Open up, open up, it’s me from 56. It’s … Keith. Keith Coleridge. I need to borrow some milk” (p.1 ll. 8-9). The father senses danger, as he is well aware of the fact that there isn’t any house with the number 56 on their street and therefore the demon is left remaining outside. The second time the demon tires to find him way in to the house he pretends to be Paul Graves from Parenthesis Press, “Open up, open up, I’m from Parenthesis Press. It’s Paul. Paul … Graves. I heard the news. I’m truly gutted it’s taken me this long to come over. I’ve brought a pizza and some toys for the boys” (p. 1 ll. 13-15). The attentive father knew there wasn’t any Paul from the Parenthesis Press and the door remained shut and the demon was once again left outside the house. The demon does attempts to get the father to open the door a third time. This time the demon pretends to be the police and tries to use the authority of a police officer, “Open up! Police! We know you’re in there, this is an emergency, you have five seconds to open the door or we will smash our way in” (p.1 ll. 20-22). The father knew a bit about the law and sensed a lie, and therefore the door remained shut. After three failed attempts the demon was desperate and gave it another attempt. This time the demon tried to fool the family by imitating the dead mother, “Boys? It’s me. It’s Mum. Darling? Are you there? Boys, open the door, it’s me. I’m back. Sweetheart? Boys? Let me in” (p.2 ll. 1-2). The father, drunk on the voice of his beloved, raced downstairs, accompanied with the two children, to open the door. The crow stopped the family at the door, and the father realized it wasn’t his wife. The crow demonstrated, to the demon, what happens when a crow repels an intruder to the nest. The crow opened the door, went out, smiled, sniffed the air, nodded good evening to the demon and back-kicked the door shut behind him. The crow attacked the demon after shutting the door behind him, and beat up the demon.